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EDITORIALS
May 26, 2015

Disappointing NPT conference

Japan must seriously consider how it can fulfill its special responsibility as the sole victim of atomic bombings in the global efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate the dangers posed by nuclear weapons.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 28, 2015

Defense cooperation guidelines with U.S. present new roles, risks for Japan

The new rules have divided security analysts in Japan, with some fearing the country could be dragged into a conflict overseas, presumably involving the U.S. military.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2015

Doctors being targeted in Syria's brutal war

After four years of war in Syria, some medical suppliers now fear being arrested or shut down if they sell gauze or surgical thread to doctors operating in areas under siege by government forces.
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2015

A wake-up call for Japan

The hostage crisis with the Islamic State group should not deter Japan from contributing to the global fight against terrorism in its own, nonmilitary ways.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 27, 2014

Business as usual or an energy revolution?

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party won a snap election two weeks ago that caught opposition parties and the public off guard. The result was a record low turnout in which the LDP lost several seats, but kept a two-thirds majority in the Lower House.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Aug 31, 2014

China seeks to better protect South China Sea submarine gateway in face of U.S. surveillance flights

China's efforts to protect its submarine gateway to the South China Sea could broaden from standoffs with U.S. military planes to announcing an air defense identification zone, according to two retired People's Liberation Army officers.
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Aug 9, 2014

Legacy of 1984 Olympics still growing strong

What will be the legacy of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics?
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2014

Third Obama disappointment seems imminent

In the trivial case of the Sino-Japanese dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu isles, there was no cause for President Barack Obama's recent warning to China that the U.S. considers the islands as falling under protection of its Security Treaty signed with Japan in the aftermath of the Second World War. A polite reference to the matter as one for peaceful settlement would have sufficed.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2014

Who will stop the slaughter?

Who will stand up in the world today for the millions of people whose lives are being savaged by evil men and women in states like Syria and North Korea?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Nov 17, 2013

Identity issues can complicate a child's path to becoming bilingual

The pursuit of bilingualism can be something akin to the quest for the Holy Grail for parents living in Japan. It's also near-universal, affecting expatriates here for an extended period, multilingual families where the parents come from different cultural backgrounds, or Japanese nationals eager to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 5, 2013

One Direction takes the J-pop path to success

By the group's standards, it was a low-key finale. When One Direction completed its eight-month Take Me Home Tour at the second of two Makuhari Messe shows last Sunday in Chiba, it was in front of a relatively compact audience of 12,000 Japanese fans, whose adoration seemed good-humored rather than hysterical....
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Oct 28, 2013

'Fired' English teacher fights cancer and HIV: readers' mail

Readers offer a range of views on the case of Briton Neil Grainger, the English teacher struggling with cancer and HIV whose contract was not renewed by his employer, Waseda International.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 27, 2013

Pakistan quake relief hampered by attacks

Some security officials and relief groups are coming under attack as they struggle to reach victims in earthquake-ravaged southwestern Pakistan, demonstrating the volatile conditions in areas hardest hit by Tuesday's magnitude 7.7 temblor.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2013

Domestic factors also drive Putin's Syria gamble

Russian President Vladimir Putin's strategic win over the U.S. in Syria vindicates his foreign policy at a time when he faces difficulties at home.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 11, 2013

Obama's Guantanamo hunger strike problem

When the military doctors force-feed Guantanamo Bay detainee Fayiz al-Kandari with a tube shoved into his stomach there are three stages to the pain.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 28, 2013

African elephants pluck at Japan's heartstrings

Next time you attend a shamisen performance, neither you nor most anyone else there will likely notice the elephant in the room. And those who do probably won't have given it much thought.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 11, 2013

Pyongyang-Tehran military ties test nuclear nonproliferation regime

Circumstantial evidence and a growing number of reports suggest that North Korea and Iran are sharing advances in nuclear and missile technology.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Apr 9, 2013

Rosy Fukushima health report faulted by experts

Dear Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,
Japan Times
BUSINESS / NOTEBOOK
Nov 14, 2012

English speech contest for teachers; charity run and walk for children's rights

Contests
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2012

Cairo's problem with new realities

A new reality and an alternative reality are shaping up in Egypt. President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood appear firmly in control. Morsi seized on the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai early this month — an embarrassment for the military and particularly the Supreme Council of...
COMMENTARY
Jul 25, 2012

China, Russia and Syria: the ghost of Gadhafi at the U.N.

China and Russia have cast three vetoes so far on draft U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolutions aimed at tougher international responses to the Syrian's government's brutal crackdown on protestors and rebels.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2012

An Israeli strike on Iran would backfire

On June 7, 1981, eight Israeli F-16 fighter jets, protected by six F-15 escorts, dropped 16 907-kg bombs on the nearly completed Osirak nuclear reactor at the Tuwaitha complex in Iraq. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Defense Minister Ariel Sharon saw the reactor as central to Iraqi President...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2011

Overcoming disaster via cinematic therapy

Back in May, the rumor among cinephiles in the Japanese media was that the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) wouldn't happen this year. The mood was that it was too soon after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 to hold anything festive, especially in the visual-arts scene. All over Japan,...
COMMENTARY
Oct 14, 2011

The volatile politics of rice

A campaign promise that helped bring Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her political party to power in July elections is roiling the global market for rice, Asia's staple food that is now eaten by nearly half the world's population.
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2011

Religious fundamentalism after the uprisings

Most analysts would agree that al-Qaida has not played a significant role in the revolutions sweeping the Arab world today, while remaining largely silent about the remarkable political transformation that is taking place.
EDITORIALS
Apr 16, 2011

North Korea's 'chronic crisis'

North Korea is facing food shortages. International aid agencies report that the situation is dire, with millions facing the prospect of starvation in coming months without help. Even if those estimates are exaggerated, there is no escaping the fact that North korea cannot feed its own people.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2011

Radiation terminology numbs, confuses, varies by need and country

Ever since the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant began spewing radiation on March 11, many have struggled to understand the unfamiliar units used to measure it.
COMMENTARY
Dec 23, 2010

Palestinian kids versus the IDF

NEW YORK — The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is among the strongest armies in the world. According to Israeli Defense Minister Ehuda Barak, it is also one the most moral ones. One wouldn't know that for its treatment of Palestinian children.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 14, 2010

Pandas coming to Ueno part of bigger pattern

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government signed a deal with China in July to lease two giant pandas for 10 years for Ueno Zoo, which has been without a panda since the famous Ling Ling died in 2008.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji